Heretofore antibiotics have been used in the medical treatment of the human body. Recently, the range of its use has expanded to include use as fungicides, growth promoting agents for animals, storage of industrial materials, preservation of foods etc.
In the case of animals, antibiotics have been given to them as a medicine or as a growth promoting agent. On the other hand, a method has been known for decreasing the offensive odor of the excrement of animals by giving them an enzyme, such as amylase or proteaze by mixing it into the animal feed.
This method effectuates a decrease of the offensive odor by action of the enzyme in the digestive mechanism of the animal body so treated. However, the health condition of the animals has considerable influence upon the action of the enzyme. This method does not always produce a definite effect, and the decrease of the offensive odor is limited only to the extent of 10% or less.
There has also been known a method for eliminating odor of the excrement of the animals by using the action of a deodorizing agent from outside, without recourse to the control of the interior mechanism inside the animal's body. However, this method produces only a limited degree of effect, since the deodorizing agent does not act directly on the substances causing the offensive odor.
Heretofore it has been known that acidophilus drinks or drugs, such as yogurt or Biofermin (trade mark) considerably improves the condition of the human body. More specifically, it has been known that such drinks or drugs control considerably the production of ammonia in the human body, especially in the intestines.
Animals, including human bodies, digest in their stomachs and intestines the protein they take, and decompose it into aminoacids which are absorbed into the intestine. Meanwhile, a part of the aminoacid is subjected to deamidization to produce ammonia. The ammonia produced enters into the blood, and is then converted in the liver into urea from which it is then excreted.
If it were possible to lower the ammonia concentration in intestine and blood, the state of health of animals would be considerably improved.
Hereupon, the inventors has found an antibiotic, multhiomycin, which lowers the ammonia concentration in the body of animals and, as a result, eliminates offensive odor in the excrement of animals, especially in the faeces of animals.
Multhiomycin is an antibiotic which was found in the soil of Japan by one of the inventors, Mr. Yonehara, and is disclosed in detail in the Journal of Antibiotics volume 23, No. 5, pp 231-237 (1970).